Ian Byrne MP: written questions 2025
104 published records · newest first.
Written questions
Water CompaniesDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 2 Jun 2025AnsweredUIN 56366More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of bringing water companies into public ownership on (a) bills and (b) infrastructure investment.
Answer: Independent research commissioned by the Consumer Council for Water found substantial change to the industry and company ownership would not address the main problems experienced. Nationalising a water company would cost billions of pounds, and it would t...
Answered 10 Jun 2025
Original Parliament recordArtificial Intelligence: Public BodiesDepartment for Science, Innovation and TechnologyTabled 30 May 2025AnsweredUIN 55554More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of establishing a regulator for artificial intelligence.
Answer: The vast majority of AI systems should be regulated at point of use and our expert regulators are best placed to do this. In response to the AI Action Plan, the Government committed to identifying capability needs for regulators to mitigate AI risks and d...
Answered 12 Jun 2025
Original Parliament recordTaxis: Conditions of EmploymentDepartment for Business and TradeTabled 30 May 2025AnsweredUIN 55481More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps his Department is taking to protect workers' rights for app-based taxi drivers.
Answer: Our Plan to Make Work Pay will modernise the UK labour market and address challenges thrown up by new trends and technologies. The Employment Rights Bill is the first phase of delivery, and will provide a new baseline of security for workers. Once impleme...
Answered 9 Jun 2025
Original Parliament recordStudents: LoansDepartment for EducationTabled 30 May 2025AnsweredUIN 55479More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of pausing student loan interest from accruing while new parents are in receipt of statutory maternity pay.
Answer: Student loans are subject to interest to ensure that those who can afford to do so contribute to the full cost of their degree.The student finance system protects borrowers if they see a reduction in their income for whatever reason. This includes those i...
Answered 9 Jun 2025
Original Parliament recordAdoption and Special Guardianship Support FundDepartment for EducationTabled 30 May 2025AnsweredUIN 55455More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment has she made of the potential merits of making the Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund permanent.
Answer: I refer my hon. Friend, the member for Liverpool West Derby, to my written statement of 22 April 2025, which is available here: https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-statements/detail/2025-04-22/hcws589.
Answered 4 Jun 2025
Original Parliament recordSchools: FinanceDepartment for EducationTabled 30 May 2025AnsweredUIN 55449More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to ensure state schools have adequate levels of funding.
Answer: The overall core schools budget is increasing by £3.7 billion in 2025/26, meaning that it will total £65.3 billion, compared to £61.6 billion in 2024/25. This is a 6% overall increase, which against the backdrop of a challenging fiscal picture, demonstrat...
Answered 9 Jun 2025
Original Parliament recordPublic Houses: Government AssistanceDepartment for Business and TradeTabled 30 May 2025AnsweredUIN 55428More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps his Department is taking to support local pubs.
Answer: Hospitality businesses, including pubs, are at the heart of our communities and play a vital role in supporting economic growth. We've launched a licensing taskforce aimed at cutting red tape and removing barriers that hinder progress. The Government also...
Answered 9 Jun 2025
Original Parliament recordLocal Housing Allowance: PovertyDepartment for Work and PensionsTabled 30 May 2025AnsweredUIN 55413More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment her Department has made of the decision to freeze Local Housing Allowance on rates of poverty.
Answer: No assessment has been made using current economic assumptions and methodological practices.However, the department has previously produced a poverty impact assessment using OBR economic assumptions from 30 October 2024 on an outdated version of the model...
Answered 9 Jun 2025
Original Parliament recordSocial Rented HousingMinistry of Housing, Communities and Local GovernmentTabled 30 May 2025AnsweredUIN 55391More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps her Department is taking to increase the availability of social housing.
Answer: At Spring statement, the government announced an immediate injection of £2 billion to support delivery of the biggest boost in social and affordable housebuilding in a generation and contribute to our ambitious Plan for Change milestone of building 1.5 mi...
Answered 9 Jun 2025
Original Parliament recordLearning Disability: Disability AidsDepartment for EducationTabled 21 May 2025AnsweredUIN 54020More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of removing spelling and grammar software from Disabled Students' Allowance funding on student retention rates at universities.
Answer: The department engaged with disability experts who support disabled students to gather their feedback and insights on the decision to remove non-specialist spelling and grammar software from Disabled Students’ Allowance funding.The department’s review of ...
Answered 6 Jun 2025
Original Parliament recordLearning Disability: Disability AidsDepartment for EducationTabled 21 May 2025AnsweredUIN 54019More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of removing spelling and grammar software from Disabled Students' Allowance funding on disabled students' future employment prospects.
Answer: The department engaged with disability experts who support disabled students to gather their feedback and insights on the decision to remove non-specialist spelling and grammar software from Disabled Students’ Allowance funding.The department’s review of ...
Answered 6 Jun 2025
Original Parliament recordIsrael: Arms TradeForeign, Commonwealth and Development OfficeTabled 7 May 2025AnsweredUIN 904093More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of his policy on arms trade with Israel.
Answer: In September 2024, we took decisive action, suspending licences for the Israeli Defence Forces that might be used to commit or facilitate serious violations of international humanitarian law in Gaza. We have maintained the suspension and assess there are ...
Answered 13 May 2025
Original Parliament recordSchool MilkDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 7 May 2025AnsweredUIN 50587More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to extend the Nursery Milk Scheme entitlement to the end of the academic year in which a child turns five.
Answer: The Nursery Milk Scheme is a statutory scheme which allows early years childcare settings to reclaim the cost of providing one-third of a pint of milk per day to children under the age of five who attend a setting for two or more hours per day. Schools ca...
Answered 19 May 2025
Original Parliament recordSchool MealsDepartment for EducationTabled 7 May 2025AnsweredUIN 50586More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of introducing monitoring compliance with School Food Standards.
Answer: I refer my hon. Friend, the Member for Liverpool West Derby to the answer of 9 May 2025 to Question 48872.
Answered 30 May 2025
Original Parliament recordGlaucoma and Macular Degeneration: Medical TreatmentsDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 7 May 2025AnsweredUIN 50585More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent estimate he has made of the number of people waiting longer than 18 weeks for treatment for (a) wet macular degeneration and (b) glaucoma in (i) England, (ii) Merseyside and (iii) Liver
Answer: The classification codes required to identify pathways where patients may have glaucoma or macular degeneration do not allow for distinction between the two conditions. The following table provides an estimate of the number of patients who have been waiti...
Answered 13 May 2025
Original Parliament recordCataracts: SurgeryDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 7 May 2025AnsweredUIN 50584More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the quality of lenses used by private providers of NHS cataract surgery.
Answer: No assessment has been made of the quality of lenses used by private providers of National Health Service cataract surgery.The safety of all patients, whether they are treated in the NHS or the independent sector, is a top priority for the Government. All...
Answered 14 May 2025
Original Parliament recordCataracts: SurgeryDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 7 May 2025AnsweredUIN 50583More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the number and proportion of patients who have received NHS cataract surgery in private clinics and have then been re-admitted post-surgery to NHS providers in each of
Answer: A table showing the number and proportion of patients who received National Health Service cataract surgery in private clinics, who were then re-admitted post-surgery to NHS providers in each of the last six years, is attached.
Answered 14 May 2025
Original Parliament recordOphthalmic ServicesDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 7 May 2025AnsweredUIN 50582More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the number of NHS Ophthalmology departments that do not have enough consultants to provide a full service for patients needing treatment for (a) glaucoma and (b) wet ma
Answer: The Department does not hold information on shortages of ophthalmology consultants. Appropriate levels of staffing will be decided by local system workforce planning.NHS England publishes quarterly National Health Service hospital trust vacancy and job ad...
Answered 12 May 2025
Original Parliament recordOphthalmic ServicesDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 7 May 2025AnsweredUIN 50581More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the number of NHS Ophthalmology departments that do not have enough consultants to provide a full service.
Answer: The Department does not hold information on shortages of ophthalmology consultants. Appropriate levels of staffing will be decided by local system workforce planning.NHS England publishes quarterly National Health Service hospital trust vacancy and job ad...
Answered 12 May 2025
Original Parliament recordOphthalmic ServicesDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 7 May 2025AnsweredUIN 50580More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the number and proportion of NHS hospital trusts unable to deliver comprehensive eyecare services to (a) adults and (b) children.
Answer: Integrated care boards are responsible for commissioning secondary eye care services to meet local population need. Appropriate levels of staffing are decided by local system workforce planning.We recognise the challenges facing secondary eye care service...
Answered 16 May 2025
Original Parliament recordCataracts: SurgeryDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 7 May 2025AnsweredUIN 50579More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the number of patients to have undergone NHS cataract surgery in private clinics in each of the last six years.
Answer: The following table shows the number of patients who have undergone National Health Service cataract surgery in private clinics in each of the last six years:YearIndependent provider totalDifferenceAdmissionsPatientsAdmissionsPatients2017/1875,09657,676--...
Answered 16 May 2025
Original Parliament recordCataracts: SurgeryDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 7 May 2025AnsweredUIN 50578More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the the amount of money that has been paid to private clinics for delivering NHS cataract surgery in each of the last six years; and how much of the amount identified r
Answer: Independent providers play an important role supporting the National Health Service to deliver eyecare services, ensuring patients receive the treatment and care they need.The data is not held in the format requested.
Answered 10 Jun 2025
Original Parliament recordPoultry: Animal HousingDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 6 May 2025AnsweredUIN 50228More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if his Department will launch a consultation on the (a) production, (b) import and (c) sales of eggs from caged hens.
Answer: We remain firmly committed to maintaining and improving animal welfare and want to work closely with the farming sector to deliver high standards. The use of cages for laying hens is an issue which we are currently considering very carefully.
Answered 16 May 2025
Original Parliament recordFood: LabellingDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 6 May 2025AnsweredUIN 50227More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 29 April to Question 20692 on food labelling, what his timescale is for a decision on (a) next steps and (b) responding to the consultation.
Answer: A public consultation on fairer food labelling was undertaken last year by the previous Government. We are now carefully considering all responses to the consultation before deciding on next steps. We recognise that this is an important matter and will re...
Answered 21 May 2025
Original Parliament recordFoie Gras: ImportsDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 25 Apr 2025AnsweredUIN 48191More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what his planned timeline is to ban the import of foie gras.
Answer: The Government shares the British public's high regard for animal welfare and has made clear that the production of foie gras from ducks or geese using force feeding raises serious welfare concerns. We have been clear that we will use our Trade Strategy t...
Answered 12 May 2025
Original Parliament record
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